First-term Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, probably had more pressing personal political problems on his mind Thursday than how he will vote in committee later this month on the proposed statewide ban on disposable plastic grocery bags.

Because on Tuesday, in his supposedly safe Democratic district centered on Whittier, Santa Fe Springs, La Puente and the like, he actually came in second to Republican upstart Rita Topalian, whom he will face again in the November general election. She took more than 51 percent of the vote, meaning a lot of Democrats likely crossed over party lines to the GOP for her. Topalian naturally calls the balloting the result of her fine message and hard work, but the fact is for the first time ever the Calderon family name appears to be political bad juju rather than the ticket to office it used to be. His father, former legislator Charles Calderon, lost in his bid for a Superior Court judgeship Tuesday as well. Chalk it up to Ian’s uncle state Sen. Ron Calderon’s currently facing 24 federal charges relating to wire fraud, bribery, money laundering and falsification of tax returns.

Ian Calderon clearly has work to do to get elected to a second term, and so I have some free, unasked-for political advice for him. As a self-proclaimed member of the Legislature’s tiny “surfing caucus” — and as a former professional surfer and state college surfing champion — he needs to do the right thing by our mother ocean.

Any waterman knows how clogged the Pacific is with nasty plastic bags, which not only get snagged on your board’s fins but kill fish and other marine life.

But I hear that Calderon still won’t commit to making the vote that would bring a needed statewide ban on the bags in the Appropriations Committee on Monday.

Because he’s been on the fence on the crucial issue, representatives from the Surfrider Foundation, Friends of Whittier Narrows, the Natural Resources Defense Council and a river ecologist met Thursday with Calderon’s field representative and district director. They lauded their boss’s commitment to the environment, but then said he has “logistical” and business-related concerns about the new compromise legislation, updated and improved from a similar effort last year.

The new bill, which is co-sponsored by Sens. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, and Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, encourages a reinvention of the plastic bag industry by paying companies to shift from making throw-away bags to reusable ones. It already has the support of two California bag manufacturers and the grocery industry.

So why on Earth — why on ocean — can’t it garner the support of a young politician who used to make his living riding California’s once-pristine waves?

Larry Wilson is a member of the Los Angeles News Group editorial board. Twitter:@PublicEditor. larry.wilson@langnews.com